There is something to be said about the democratic process that brought us to this: the Paris administrative division is home to a little over 2 million people, but the city doesn't really end at its administrative borders (75 in this [0] map. The city border stopped tracking the city growth 150 years ago [1].
Most of the people who live in Paris proper enjoy the metro, multiple bike sharing and electrical scooter options, those who can't afford to live within city borders (which outnumber the Parisians 5-to-1) are forced to use the RER (light railway) or private cars.
The effects of the policies that reduce private traffic in the city proper extend far beyond the administrative borders, and the 2016 decision to ban cars from parts of the Seine banks has increased traffic dramatically outside of Paris, but damaging only people who don't vote for the mayor of Paris.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for a reduction in private vehicle use, but I think that a solution can only be found by integrating the whole region in a single administrative division and eliminating this notion of first and second class citizens of Paris.
RER is heavy rail - Ligne A's trunk shifts 50k pax/hour each direction. With, among other efforts, the extended Ligne E and Ligne 14, there are serious network upgrades on the way to meet the challenge.
Indeed the only people angry at how Paris is taking back public space from cars are those who insist on taking a personal car into Paris, which is puzzling stubbornness where there are so many other options.
I live in Courbevoie, outside Paris and cycle there daily - I couldn't be happier and I don't feel second class at all. Placemaking is the future: cities are living places, not car sinks.
Could you comment on the yellow vests? It feels like those protests specifically centered around that (or at least Macron's way of plugging the wealth tax) and it seemed to have a lot of popular support.
Considering the traffic jams we have around Paris, I'd say the people who take their personal car don't have a choice, with poor/no public transportation on their commute.
Then most people who drive in Paris 1. don't need to (according to those drivers asked, 72% didn't really "need" to drive) 2. are not poor people (64% CSP+) 3. aren't driving for work (20% were professionals - that's mostly an answer to the sibling comment to yours though) 4. drive within Paris rather than from the periphery (50%)
Now, that study was made by the city of Paris so maybe it's biased, but I'm pretty sure there is some truth in it.
The study was also done on a small number of people (1127) on a very small area right in the middle of Paris and is 4 years old; of the people studied half of them were delivery drivers, reducing further the amount of data.
All true, but let me add my pet peevee, which is the RER connection to CDG airport.
When you're lucky enough to get a direct train in or out then it's OK. Unfortunately this rarely happens and the alternative is an unpredictable slog in a usually filthy and crowded train, which puckers away and waits for an unspecified time at stations somewhere out in the sticks.
From all major European airports conncetivity to CDG is just about the worst and - in terms of times - the most unpredictable.
And don't get me started on the airport itself, which makes Heathrow shine as a beacon of modernity, efficiency and class.
I agree with your statement. The RER is crap. It's dirty, full of panhandlers and CDG is just about the worst airport I have set foot in. The staff is incompetent and barely speak English.
Most of the people who live in Paris proper enjoy the metro, multiple bike sharing and electrical scooter options, those who can't afford to live within city borders (which outnumber the Parisians 5-to-1) are forced to use the RER (light railway) or private cars.
The effects of the policies that reduce private traffic in the city proper extend far beyond the administrative borders, and the 2016 decision to ban cars from parts of the Seine banks has increased traffic dramatically outside of Paris, but damaging only people who don't vote for the mayor of Paris.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for a reduction in private vehicle use, but I think that a solution can only be found by integrating the whole region in a single administrative division and eliminating this notion of first and second class citizens of Paris.
[0] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Paris_uu...
[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Paris_Hi...